WHO Myanmar

Annual Events

World Sight Day 2008 Commemoration Ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw

World Sight Day 2008 Commemoration Ceremony was held in Nay-Pyi-Taw on 9th October 2008.

The opening speech was delivered by H.E. Professor Kyaw Myint, Minister, Ministry of Health followed by an address by Professor Adik Wibowo, WR Myanmar. It was attended by H.E. Professor Mya Oo, Deputy Minister, Directors General and officials from the Ministry of Health including representatives from Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation and Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association.

World Sight Day, on the second Thursday of October, is a world wide initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. Started in 2000, it is the main advocacy event for "Vision 2020 : The Right to Sight"' a global effort to prevent blindness. VISION 2020 is coordinated by WHO, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, public and private partners.

On World Sight Day, Vision 2020 members work together to :

·        Raise public awareness of blindness and vision impairment as major international public health issues

·        Influence Governments/Ministries of Health to participate in and designate funds for national blindness prevention programmes

·        Educate target audiences about blindness prevention, about VISION 2020 and its activities, and to generate support for VISION 2020 programme activities

World Sight Day 2008 focuses on the aging eye and vision impairment in older people. The headline "Eyes on the Future" and strapline - "fighting vision impairment in later life" recognizes that in a world where populations are aging and individuals are living longer, blindness from chronic conditions is rising. The World Sight day 2008 Report highlights an international selection of VISION 2020 programmes addressing eye health in older people.

Global Key messages for World Sight day 2008 are :

·        75% of blindness is avoidable

·        The world's populations are aging

·        Risks of cataract, glaucoma etc greatly increase with age

·        80% of blind people are over 50 years

·        Healthy eyes help active ageing, which helps older people live longer

·        Timely intervention can preserve sight, so get your eyes tested regularly

About 37 million people worldwide are blind and 124 million people have poor vision. Three quarters of cases of blindness are treatable or preventable. Without intervention, the number of people who are blind will increase to 75 million by 2020. WHO works with member States to develop and implement national eye care plans. World sight day provides a platform to mobilize broader blindness prevention efforts.

South-East Asia has a disproportionate burden of blindness.  Ninety percent of blindness in the region is avoidable (preventable or curable) either resulting from preventable conditions (20%) or being treatable (60%) so that sight is restored.

Blindness and visual impairment in this region is truly a public health problem and have the far reaching social, economic and developmental implications. Blindness is estimated to cost the countries of the region 5.6 billion USD annually. It is therefore an additional burden to member states of the region. Further, the life expectancy of blind persons are one third less than their sighted peers, and most of them die within ten years of becoming blind.  Two third's of the region's 10 million blind persons who have cataract, die without their sight being restored.

Prevention and treatment of vision loss are among the most cost effective and successful health interventions. These interventions include : cataract surgery to cure eye diseases related to ageing; prevention of trachoma; immunization against measles; provision of vitamin A supplements for the prevention of childhood blindness; and provision of eye glasses. The causes of avoidable blindness are frequently associated with lack of access to quality eye care service.

Cataract, a condition primarily affecting older people, remains the world's leading cause of vision loss, despite the fact that surgery to restore vision is one of the most effective interventions in health care. The cataract surgical rate CSR, or the number of cataract operations performed per million people in a given area, is a measure used as an indicator of the amount of cataract surgery being done or needed. Many developed countries have a CSR in excess of 6,000 but there are still many countries or regions within countries with CSR below 500.

Eye care, needs to be viewed comprehensively and as a priority. WHO hopes that the World Sight Day will provide opportunities for the public, health professionals, private and non-profit sectors to become more aware and more committed to ensuring the right to sight for all and to invest in global blindness prevention.